Over the last 20 years, the number of sheep in this country has been cut in half. In fact, the number has been declining since the late 1940s, when the American sheep industry hit its peak. Today, the domestic sheep herd is one-tenth the size it was during World War II.

The decline is the result of economic and cultural factors coming together. And it has left ranchers to wonder, “When are we going to hit the bottom?”

With severe drought continuing to affect agriculture on the Western Slope, KVNF’s Travis Bubenik explores how two tech-savy local sheep farmers found a way to cut costs and manage their animals more efficiently.